Why The New FTC Guidelines Are A HUGE Opportunity For Bloggers

While so many people are getting their tighties in a bunch over the new FTC guidelines and how it affects our industry, my opinion is that you should not be concerned.

In fact, you should be THRILLED.

Better yet, you should be using it as a huge kick in the ass to put on your A-game, get into gear, and start creating a real business.

I’ll go more into this in an upcoming report I plan to write (stay tuned for it), however let me give you the long-and-short of it.

Blogging as a business is RELATIONSHIP MARKETING. If you want to make money as a blogger, this is the short version of what you do:

1. Create a product line.
2. Attract people to you through quality content.
3. Get people into your sales funnel. In other words, capture them as a lead. Get ‘em on your list.
4. Build the RELATIONSHIP. Get them to know, like and trust you. Be a real person. You want them to trust your expertise, but also view you as a friend.
5. Sell them things by providing quality recommendations they can trust.

Now, traditional internet marketers are all consulting their lawyers over the new FTC regulations. One of the biggest things that will affect the industry is the use of testimonials to sell. To make a long story short, you will not be able to throw out a bunch of glowing testimonials, throw in a “results not typical” footnote in tiny print at the bottom of the page, and move on with your life.

In fact, in a recent report put out by John Reese, he said to forget using testimonials! That’s right. No testimonials. By not using testimonials, you just avoid that whole FTC mess.

Why is this a huge piece of good news for smart bloggers?

Because bloggers who are doing this right are building up a RELATIONSHIP. And a solid relationship makes testimonials a much less important sales tactic.

Most marketers sell people stuff because they fall onto the sales page and you have to overwhelm them with social proof in order to get over that natural distrust they have.

In the NEW way, your loyal tribe will have a relationship with YOU. And they’ll buy what you recommend if they have a need, but because they trust that YOU told them it was OK.

Know. Like. Trust. It is everything.

And bloggers are poised better than almost any internet marketer to do this, both through their blog as well as their mailing list.

The FTC guidelines don’t matter. In fact, it is going to be more of a game changer for the people who’ve not been doing this business with relationships in mind from the beginning.